Allen wins SUSD seat by 35 votes

Tuesday

Dec 4, 2012 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - After waiting nearly four weeks for her narrow victory to be confirmed, Gloria Allen said Monday she is excited to have won a second term representing the southwest portion of Stockton Unified.

Roger Phillips

STOCKTON - After waiting nearly four weeks for her narrow victory to be confirmed, Gloria Allen said Monday she is excited to have won a second term representing the southwest portion of Stockton Unified.

Allen's 35-vote victory became official Monday when Registrar of Voters Austin Erdman certified the Nov. 6 election results after he and his staff spent the weekend counting provisional ballots.

Hernandez said last week she would ask for a recount if the vote was close enough. But after speaking with Erdman, who has told her the deficit very likely is too large to overcome, Hernandez sounded doubtful Monday about seeking a recount.

Allen said her goal as she begins her second term will be "to have a working board so we can get busy at achieving some of the district's goals." She acknowledged she has had a frayed relationship since early this year with fellow board members Sara Cazares (the president) and David Varela.

Allen, the vice president, has been angry at the two since April. It was in April that Varela publicly accused Allen of unethical dealings during the process that resulted in the hiring of Superintendent Steve Lowder. Cazares, who was never publicly critical of Allen, voted against Lowder's hiring, as did Varela and Jose Morales.

Of Varela and Cazares, Allen said, "I'm a big girl. I can work with anybody. But don't step on my toes again."

Cazares and Varela did not return phone calls Monday.

Hernandez said she was pleased with her first foray into politics.

"I'm proud of the work I did," she said. "My main concern is our children and to better their education. That's the priority in this situation, not me or Gloria. I came in because I wanted kids' education to be the priority. Better luck next time, maybe."

Three seats on Stockton Unified's seven-member board were at stake in this year's election. Allen was the lone incumbent to be re-elected. The other two races were barely in doubt after the initial day of counting four weeks ago.

In Area 3, in east Stockton, Kathy Garcia handily defeated the incumbent, Morales, with 56 percent of the vote. In a tighter race in Area 4 in midtown Stockton, Colleen Keenan ousted incumbent Angel Jimenez by winning 51.2 percent of the vote.

In an unrelated race that was close on Nov. 6 but became more one-sided as provisional ballots were counted, Stockton Unified educator Claudia Moreno officially defeated retired Delta psychology instructor Elizabeth Blanchard for a seat on the board at San Joaquin Delta College.

Moreno won by more than 4,600 votes, capturing 51.2 percent of the vote.